Justice Abhay S Oka stressed that environmental justice is not only about saving nature, but also about protecting people’s health and right to live with dignity.
NEW DELHI: At the SILF Climate Change Conference and Awards 2025, former Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay S Oka delivered a powerful speech, underlining how environmental justice is deeply connected to social justice in India.
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He explained that courts across the country—especially the constitutional courts—have shown how environment-related issues directly affect people’s lives, especially those who are poor or marginalised.
“It is my privilege to address this gathering on a very important subject, the environment, which is dear to me. As a judge of the Bombay High Court, Karnataka High Court, and Supreme Court, I was lucky enough to deal with many environmental matters,” said Justice Oka, recalling his long judicial journey.
He stressed that environmental justice is not only about saving nature, but also about protecting people’s health and right to live with dignity.
He said,
“When we talk about environmental justice, social justice inevitably comes into the picture. Protection of the environment is not only necessary for preserving natural resources available on planet Earth, but more importantly, it is essential for human beings to lead a healthy, constructive, and meaningful life. If we are not able to preserve our environment and protect it from degradation, we are doing an injustice to society at large.”
To show how environmental issues hit the poor harder, Justice Oka used the example of Delhi’s annual air pollution crisis.
“That is where social justice comes into the picture. One classic example is Delhi. Every year, from December to February, we are hit by massive air pollution. Most of the people present here today can afford air purifiers at home, but the majority of Delhi’s population living in shanties or working on the streets can’t afford air purifiers.”
Justice Oka said that pollution directly affects the lives of people who depend on natural resources. For example, if rivers or seas get polluted, fishing communities suffer.
“Take, for example, pollution of our rivers or our seas affects the livelihood of the fishing community. Thus, every environmental issue, every degradation, every destruction of the environment has a direct nexus with social justice guaranteed by the Constitution.”
He added that environmental harm also affects economic justice, and that the country’s poor suffer the most when the environment is damaged. To stop this, Indian courts have created important legal tools like the polluter pays principle and the doctrine of sustainable development.
Justice Oka questioned how India defines development today. He asked whether development should only mean building highways and flyovers or should also include providing clean air, water, and housing to the poor.
He warned that without this shift, “sustainable development” will remain only a slogan.
From his experience of over four decades in the legal field, Justice Oka said that only a few people in India are brave enough to take up environmental causes—and those who do often get misunderstood or labeled as “anti-development”.
“I have been part of several environmental decisions in the Bombay High Court, Karnataka High Court, and the Supreme Court. What I find from my long experience of 20 years as a lawyer and nearly 22 years as a judge of three constitutional courts is that very few citizens show enthusiasm and courage to take up environmental issues. It is not easy to address environmental concerns, as those who raise these issues rarely get active societal support.”
“Those advocating environmental causes rarely received societal support, and in such a case, how could they expect to receive support from the government?”
Justice Oka also remembered the historic contribution of MC Mehta, a lawyer who filed many Public Interest Litigations (PILs) that helped build India’s environmental law framework.
Referring to the MC Mehta case, he asked:
“Have we adequately honoured or remembered him (Mehta, who filed the PIL), especially today, as we celebrate World Environment Day?”
Justice Oka also spoke about another serious issue: noise pollution, especially from illegal loudspeakers during festivals.
“Noise pollution caused by religious festivals affects human health seriously. Everyone has a constitutional right not to be compelled to hear what they don’t wish to, yet illegal use of loudspeakers continues, forcing people to endure unwanted noise. Noise pollution isn’t just irritating, it impacts hearing capacity and brain functioning.”
In his closing remarks, Justice Oka gave a strong message. He said that humans often wrongly assume that they own nature, when in fact, we are only a small part of it.
“We degrade and destroy the environment under the wrong notion that the earth belongs to us, but in fact, we belong to the earth. Some of us are under the wrong notion that the environment belongs to us. In fact, we belong to the environment.”
Quoting Article 21 of the Constitution, he said the right to live with dignity includes the right to live in a clean, pollution-free environment.
“If you are living in an atmosphere polluted by air and other forms of pollution, you cannot live with dignity. Protecting the environment, including the manmade and natural environments, is of great concern for human existence.”
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